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Grandma Stand

Anyone of any age can stop by the Grandma Stand in New York’s Central Park to shoot the breeze with a grandmother. The concept has spread around the US and is now the subject of an hour-long documentary on PBS.

At a time when the lack of connection is epidemic, wise witty grandmas sit behind a lemonade-like stand, offering life lessons to passersby in NYC’s Central Park. We see 20 diverse people candidly share their feelings. “Just a little love, a little talking. She’s speaking to my soul,” said a visitor. This film shows how a brief encounter has a strong impact and gives us insight into our own lives.

You can watch the complete documentary on the PBS site (like US-only). (via @prisonculture.bsky.social)

Comments  1

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Meg Hourihan

"Human interaction, imperfect as it is, is what makes us human." is a quote from Xochitl Gonzalez's article in the Atlantic, "People Who Don’t Like People Are Making All of Our Decisions" and nicely posted just above this post.

This lovely story captures just how important those human interactions are. And I'm sure a "Grandma Chat" app or "AI Grandma" screen sitting on a bench in Central Park wouldn't have the same effect. Is it too much to think that lack of human interaction is making us less human and behind what appears to be our general loss of humanity?

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